UPDATE FROM GREG – FEBRUARY 15, 2019
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a serious crisis in Haiti right now which has forced Jim Cain, Jason Ayers and I to postpone next week’s trip – first and foremost, please be praying for the safety and well-being of all our friends and loved ones in Haiti, along with all our Christian brothers and sisters and the nation as a whole – also, please be praying for a rapid de-escalation of the crisis, and that nothing would interfere with the trip that Michael Rowand, Russell Ward and I are supposed to make on March 27th.
Re: current conditions: When I spoke w/JT a bit ago he said the current revolt against the government, now in it’s 10th day, has created the worst humanitarian crisis he’s seen in his lifetime – he said, “It’s like something you might expect to see in the Middle East, but you would never believe it could happen in Haiti.”
From a news release earlier today on haitilibre.com:
Many people no longer have access to water, food and medical care. Pregnant women are forced to give birth inside their homes in difficult conditions in the absence of health professionals, taking into account the inaccessibility of public roads.
“The Office of Citizen Protection, as a national institution for the promotion and protection of Human Rights, expresses its deep concern over the socio-political unrest in the country for about 8 days, emphasizing that “The situation has provoked a serious humanitarian crisis endangering many people including women, children, people with reduced mobility, the sick, the wounded, the elderly – all those who are most exposed to great vulnerability in such circumstances.”
“The Office states that ‘In various areas, particularly in the metropolitan area, many people no longer have access to water, food and medical care. Pregnant women are forced to give birth inside their homes in difficult conditions in the absence of health professionals, taking into account the inaccessibility of public roads. Patients with kidney failure are unable to seek treatment. In provincial hospitals, several patients have already died from lack of oxygen. Children from low-income families are starving in many of the poorer neighborhoods of the country.’
“Jessy Colimon, the Director of the General Hospital, denounced the group of protesters in front of the hospital that are preventing the Hospital Center from functioning, stating: ‘The hospital lacks water and fuel; medical staff can not get to work and for the moment the emergency service is no longer operational.’ “
There’s also an excellent (and unbiased) article that provides some insight into the causes of the crisis at: https://www.npr.org/2019/02/15/695095120/do-not-travel-to-haiti-u-s-tells-citizens-citing-violent-unrest
